Iris escorts solving pirate problems

When it comes to me and LEGO, no one could doubt that I love spaceships, especially micro-scale ones like this. Full of miniaturized details, this carrier is a creation of Flickr builder Sunder_59. Various building techniques allow for an engaging structure throughout the ship. Lattice pillars in grey make up the central core of the cargo area in the middle of this Iris-class Ersatz escort carrier. Delightful micro-scale fighters sit attached, waiting to be deployed to defend from pirate attacks in the Outer Worlds. These Iris class ships were created for this purpose but weren’t built for full-on combat scenarios. In fact, this style of ship was originally a simple cargo ship until the pirate issues increased. After some power-ups, this class of ship was issued out to deter or intercept attacks. Just check out those fighters. Their different styles and clever but simple designs really suit the scale.

Iris ersatz escort carrier

These alternate angles and close-ups give us the opportunity to really appreciate this build. The bridge and engine sections are full of different shapes, angles, and textures.  I absolutely love how this craft was molded. Communications arrays and sensors line the crew area as discs levers, and antennae while light bulb pieces paired with Minifigure hands work as small defense turrets.

The beefy engines use 1×1 clip plates for texture and even feature orbital maneuvering boosters on their sides, as well as one on the aft. Look closely and appreciate how closely Sunder_59 got the edges of the pieces transitioning between the upper body to the engine sections.

The colorful angular sections on the front use a simple but satisfying structure to suspend them from the body with bars and clip hinges. More orbital maneuvering engines and various greebly pieces like the orange magnet holders or grey turntable tops add that extra level of immersive detail. Meanwhile, the ship hangar holds a handful of fighters. The use of droid bodies and Minifigure ice skates in dark blue with contrasting orange claws as cockpits is a great idea. They really work as micro-scale fighters and I love the simple but effective way that they attach.

Builder Sunder_59 really shows off their skills with this beautiful craft. The choices they made in the structure and details of the build make this ship one of the best micro-scale fighter deployment carriers that I’ve seen. Models like these escape the brick in a way that allows our imagination to partner with the builder’s. I hope we get to see more of the ships of Sunder_59’s Outer Worlds.